WEBVTT

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There are two powerful phenomena
unfolding on earth:

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the rise of global warming

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and the rise of women and girls.

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The link between them is often overlooked,

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but gender equity is a key answer
to our planetary challenge.

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Let me explain.

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For the last few years,

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I have been working on an effort
called "Project Drawdown."

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Our team has scoured humanity's wisdom

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for solutions to draw down
heat-trapping, climate-changing emissions

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in the atmosphere --

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not "someday, maybe,
if we're lucky" solutions,

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the 80 best practices and technologies

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already in hand:

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clean, renewable energy,
including solar and wind;

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green buildings, both new and retrofitted;

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efficient transportation
from Brazil to China;

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thriving ecosystems through
protection and restoration;

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reducing waste and reclaiming its value;

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growing food in good ways
that regenerates soil;

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shifting diets to less meat, more plants;

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and equity for women and girls.

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Gender and climate
are inextricably linked.

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Drawing down emissions
depends on rising up.

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First, a bit of context.

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We are in a situation of urgency,
severity and scope

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never before faced by humankind.

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So far, our response isn't
anywhere close to adequate.

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But you already know that.

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You know it in your gut,

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in your bones.

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We are each part
of the planet's living systems,

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knitted together with almost
7.7 billion human beings

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and 1.8 million known species.

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We can feel the connections between us.

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We can feel the brokenness

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and the closing window to heal it.

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This earth, our home,

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is telling us that a better way of being
must emerge, and fast.

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In my experience, to have eyes wide open

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is to hold a broken heart every day.

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It's a grief that I rarely speak,

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though my work calls
on the power of voice.

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I remind myself that the heart
can simply break, or it can break open.

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A broken-open heart is awake
and alive and calls for action.

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It is regenerative, like nature,

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reclaiming ruined ground, growing anew.

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Life moves inexorably toward more life,

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toward healing,

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toward wholeness.

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That's a fundamental ecological truth.

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And we, all of us,

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we are life force.

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On the face of it, the primary link
between women, girls and a warming world

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is not life but death.

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Awareness is growing that climate impacts
hit women and girls hardest,

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given existing vulnerabilities.

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There is greater risk of displacement,

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higher odds of being injured
or killed during a natural disaster.

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Prolonged drought
can precipitate early marriage

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as families contend with scarcity.

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Floods can force last-resort prostitution

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as women struggle to make ends meet.

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The list goes on and goes wide.

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These dynamics are most acute
under conditions of poverty,

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from New Orleans to Nairobi.

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Too often, the story ends here.

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But not today.

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Another empowering truth begs to be seen.

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If we gain ground on gender equity,

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we also gain ground
on addressing global warming.

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This connection comes to light
in three key areas,

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three areas where we can secure
the rights of women and girls,

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shore up resilience

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and avert emissions at the same time.

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Women are the primary
farmers of the world.

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They produce 60 to 80 percent
of food in lower-income countries,

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often operating on fewer than five acres.

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That's what the term "smallholder" means.

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Compared with men, women smallholders
have less access to resources,

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including land rights,

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credit and capital, training,

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tools and technology.

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They farm as capably
and efficiently as men,

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but this well-documented disparity
in resources and rights

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means women produce less food
on the same amount of land.

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Close those gaps,

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and farm yields rise by 20 to 30 percent.

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That means 20 to 30 percent more food
from the same garden or the same field.

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The implications for hunger,
for health, for household income --

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they're obvious.

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Let's follow the thread to climate.

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We humans need land to grow food.

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Unfortunately, forests are often
cleared to supply it,

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and that causes emissions
from deforestation.

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But if existing farms produce enough food,

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forests are less likely to be lost.

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So there's a ripple effect.

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Support women smallholders,

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realize higher yields,

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avoid deforestation

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and sustain the life-giving
power of forests.

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Project Drawdown estimates
that addressing inequity in agriculture

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could prevent two billion tons
of emissions between now and 2050.

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That's on par with the impact
household recycling can have globally.

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Addressing this inequity
can also help women cope

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with the challenges of growing food

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as the climate changes.

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There is life force in cultivation.

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At last count,

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130 million girls are still denied
their basic right to attend school.

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Gaps are greatest
in secondary school classrooms.

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Too many girls are missing
a vital foundation for life.

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Education means better health
for women and their children,

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better financial security,

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greater agency at home and in society,

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more capacity to navigate
a climate-changing world.

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Education can mean options,
adaptability, strength.

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It can also mean lower emissions.

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For a variety of reasons,

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when we have more years of education,

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we typically choose to marry later

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and to have fewer children.

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So our families end up being smaller.

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What happens at the individual level
adds up across the world and over time.

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One by one by one,

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the right to go to school impacts
how many human beings live on this planet

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and impacts its living systems.

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That's not why girls should be educated.

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It's one meaningful outcome.

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Education is one side of a coin.

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The other is family planning:

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access to high-quality,
voluntary reproductive health care.

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To have children by choice
rather than chance

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is a matter of autonomy and dignity.

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Yet in the US,

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45 percent of pregnancies are unintended.

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Two hundred and fourteen million women
in lower-income countries

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say they want to decide whether
and when to become pregnant

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but aren't using contraception.

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Listening to women's needs,

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addressing those needs,

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advancing equity and well-being:

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those must be the aims
of family planning, period.

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Curbing the growth of our human population

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is a side effect, though a potent one.

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It could dramatically reduce demand
for food, transportation, electricity,

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buildings, goods and all the rest,

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thereby reducing emissions.

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Close the gaps on access
to education and family planning,

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and by mid-century, we may find
one billion fewer people inhabiting earth

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than we would if we do nothing more.

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According to Project Drawdown,

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one billion fewer people
could mean we avoid

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nearly 120 billion tons of emissions.

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At that level of impact,

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gender equity is a top solution
to restore a climate fit for life.

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At that level of impact,

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gender equity is on par with wind turbines

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and solar panels and forests.

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There is life force in learning

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and life force in choice.

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Now, let me be clear:

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this does not mean women and girls
are responsible for fixing everything.

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(Laughter)

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Though we probably will.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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Equity for women in agriculture,
education and family planning:

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these are solutions within a system
of drawdown solutions.

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Together, they comprise
a blueprint of possibility.

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And let me be even clearer about this:

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population cannot be seen in isolation
from production or consumption.

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Some segments of the human family
cause exponentially greater harm,

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while others suffer outsized injustice.

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The most affluent --

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we are the most accountable.

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We have the most to do.

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The gender-climate connection
extends beyond negative impacts

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and beyond powerful solutions.

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Women are vital voices
and agents for change on this planet,

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and yet we're too often missing
or even barred from the proverbial table.

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We're too often ignored
or silenced when we speak.

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We are too often passed over

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when plans are laid or investments made.

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According to one analysis,

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just 0.2 percent of philanthropic funds

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go specifically towards women
and the environment,

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merely 110 million dollars globally,

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the sum spent by one man
on a single Basquiat painting last year.

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These dynamics are not only unjust,
they are setting us up for failure.

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To rapidly, radically reshape society,

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we need every solution and every solver,

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every mind,

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every bit of heart,

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every set of hands.

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We often crave a simple call to action,

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but this challenge demands
more than a fact sheet

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and more than a checklist.

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We need to function
more like an ecosystem,

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finding strength in our diversity.

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You know what your superpowers are.

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You're an educator, farmer, healer,
creator, campaigner, wisdom-keeper.

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How might you link arms where you are

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to move solutions forward?

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There is one role I want to ask
that all of you play:

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the role of messenger.

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This is a time of great awakening.

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We need to break the silence
around the condition of our planet;

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move beyond manufactured debates
about climate science;

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share solutions;

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speak truth with a broken-open heart;

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teach that to address climate change,
we must make gender equity a reality.

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And in the face of
a seemingly impossible challenge,

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women and girls are
a fierce source of possibility.

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It is a magnificent thing to be alive

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in a moment that matters so much.

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This earth,

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our home,

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is calling for us to be bold,

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reminding us we are all
in this together --

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women, men,

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people of all gender identities,

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all beings.

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We are life force,

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one earth,

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one chance.

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Let's seize it.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)